• Inventory tree species to thoroughly understand what cities have, where trees are located, and any species’ needs or hazards.
• Assess each species’ maintenance and water requirements. “Trees that require substantial maintenance, such as pruning, may actually consume more resources in energy and money than they save,” explained Huff.
• Evaluate if the forest is composed for sustainability. A proper distribution of tree species throughout the urban forest can buffer against pest infestations that may have a greater impact in forests with limited tree species variation.
• Develop an urban forestry management plan that addresses how to enhance and/or sustain urban forests. This plan should also discuss the most efficient way to get the proper trees to maturity and where they can provide the most benefits.

Developers of master planned areas typically work with a clean slate and are able to select the most appropriate trees and their locations. Guidelines developers should consider are:

• Follow local ordinances or state law that likely require inventorying native trees and, where feasible, preserving larger stands or groupings.
• Mitigate native tree impacts through robust tree planting, woodland enhancement and restoration, and where suitable environments exist, woodland creation.
• Include native or compatible drought-tolerant trees in the landscape to reduce water use.
• Place trees strategically to reduce energy demands, intercept rainfall, create visual screens and reduce noise pollution.

An effective conservation program will:

• Use tree species that perform well in a given location.
• Employ low-maintenance trees on a large scale.
• Factor tree size, shape, and pruning requirements for group, street, and neighborhood plantings to achieve diversity without compromising efficient maintenance practices. “It’s less costly to prune similarly sized, shaped, and cycled trees, as equipment scheduling is more efficient,” explained Huff.
• Maximize preservation, enhancement, and creation of native woodlands, as these are the functioning natural systems that provide numerous benefits for humans and wildlife.
• Create a softer buffer between urban forests and wildlands by using site-sensitive landscaping.
• Consider the natural tree cover when selecting and siting landscape plantings.

“The goal is to minimize costs and risks associated with trees in urban forests and maximize the trees’ benefits, which include energy savings, aesthetics, and noise pollution mitigation,” concluded Scott Eckardt, Dudek’s registered professional forester. “There’s nothing worse than having to remove a healthy, established tree because it turns out to be unsuitable for its planting spot.”